Mighty Moycarkey N.S. County Champions!

With spectacular sunshine and an immaculate playing surface, conditions could not have been better for the U-11 Roinn C County Camogie Final on Thursday in Semple Stadium between Moycarkey N.S. and Corville N.S.. Both teams came into the game in fantastic form with Moycarkey having won their blitz having only conceded one point in 4 games to reach the final while Corville N.S. were on a roll with teams contesting 4 different county hurling and camogie finals this year. Nerves and excitement were rolled into one for the superbly supported players as the referee threw in the ball to start the game.

From the start the girls from Moycarkey showed they meant business as within the opening 5 minutes they were 2 goals to no score up thanks to 2 goals from Caoimhe O’ Sullivan. Both Caoimhe and the tenacious Kate Dowling were a constant handful for the Corville defence throughout the first half. Corville soon found their feet however and it took some excellent defending from Mia O’ Meara and Shauna Flanagan in the defence to keep a dangerous Corville attack at bay. Shortly before half time the industrious Ellen Maher launched a long ball from midfield that found its way to into the Corville goal to leave the half time score Moycarkey 3-1, Corville 0-0.

The Moycarkey girls knew that they would face serious pressure from Corville in the second half and so it proved to be true as Corville piled on the pressure from the throw in. Captain Lucy Purcell steadied the ship however with a pointed free. Lucy O’ Keeffe’s puckouts in the Moycarkey goal were unerring in their distance and accuracy and this was vital for the team throughout this spell of Corville pressure. With about ten minutes to go the Moycarkey girls kicked it into another gear however and thanks to another goal from Ellen Maher, two clinical finishes from Kate O’ Keeffe and a expertly taken goal from Caoimhe Fitzgibbon the girls finished with an amazing 7-2. Corville never gave in and got their reward with a few minutes to go thanks to a fine goal. The strength of the whole Moycarkey panel was there to be seen as Aoife Maher, Sarah Murphy, Kelly McGann, Fiona Abbott and Ella Ryan all came on to contribute to the win. Special mention to Aoibheann Fogarty and Evie Ryan who were also key members of this brilliant panel of players.

At the final whistle the ecstatic Moycarkey team celebrated a famous and historic win for their school- their first ever county camogie title. Well done to the girls and to their families and local GAA clubs, all of whom can be very proud of the role they played in this great achievement.

Match 9 U11 Roinn C Camogie Moycarkey 7-01 Scoil Iosef Naofa 1-00

By Cumann na mBunscol

The second camogie match of the 2017 finals would prove to be no less of a battle than the first and as both Moycarkey and Scoil Iosef Naofa emerged from the players’ tunnel it was clear they were ready to battle it out to the bitter end. Sarah Murphy proved this dogged resolve with a burst through the Scoil Iosef backline to kick the ball past the keeper and into the back of the net. Caoimhe O’Sullivan and Ellen Maher would prove a lethal combination for Scoil Iosef and heaped on the pressure scoring 4-01 between them to put Moycarkey in a commanding lead. Ceola Bergin, not wanting to let her sides’ spirits dip, fought bravely with the support of Abbi Vozzi to find the back of the Moycarkey net and give Scoil Iosef their first goal. Though Scoil Iosef never relented in their grit and determination, the Moycarkey lead was simply too great. Moycarkey went on to claim the U11 Roinn C title for themselves and their school in style.